Steam Workshop

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Update Notes

The GameMaker: Studio family of products caters to entry-level novices and seasoned game development professionals equally allowing them to create casual and social games for Steam Workshop, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, desktop and the Web (HTML5) in record time and at a fraction of the cost!

As well as making games development 80 percent faster than coding for native languages, developers can create fully functional prototypes in just a few hours, and a full game in just a matter of weeks.

And when you're done, GameMaker: Studio™ will produce an “app store”-ready iOS, Android, Windows Store, Windows Phone or OS X app, Windows executable or HTML5 code, all at the push of a button and all from the same source code. On top of this, you also gain instant access to more than 40 million registered Steam users through Steam Workshop, with direct upload straight from GameMaker: Studio™!

Discover how easy it is for yourself and get access to GameMaker: Studio™’s key features including its easy to use integrated development environment (IDE) powerful scripting language and Box 2D Physics by simply downloading GameMaker: Studio™ for free.

Upgrade Options

Gamemaker: Studio™ Professional GameMaker: Studio™ PROFESSIONAL unlocks the full power of GameMaker: Studio™, giving you all the great features of STANDARD with the added ability to purchase and plug-in the YoYo Compiler, Android, iOS, Windows Phone 8 and HTML5 export modules, collaborate within a team through subversion and monetize your game with an unprecedented amount of developer services.

Gamemaker: Studio™ Master CollectionBringing all of GameMaker: Studio™’s best features and modules together, GameMaker: Studio™ MASTER COLLECTION gives you the power to create, test, monetize and distribute games to iOS, Android, Windows, Windows Store, Windows Phone 8, OSX and HTML5.

Key features:

Dedicated, game-focused IDEThe GameMaker: Studio™ IDE has all you need to deal with fonts, sounds, images and music, as well as other resources needed to create a game. It enables you to define game entities (known as 'objects') and their behaviours in an intuitive, event-driven way and has an easy to use drag-and-drop interface.

Powerful scripting languageWith GameMaker: Studio™'s built-in GameMaker Language (GML), you can control every last detail of your game – path finding, physics, object interaction, particles, data structures and more …And should you find that even that is still not enough for your project, you can easily expand GameMaker: Studio™ by using GML, JavaScript and Dynamic-Link Library Extension Packages.

Multi-format exportWhen combined with format-specific modules, GameMaker: Studio™ can take your game's single codebase and produce ready-to-run executables and apps for multiple platforms, with a single click.With modules already available for Steam Workshop, Windows, Windows 8, Mac OS X, iOS*, Android*, Windows Phone 8* and HTML5* - and more to be announced soon - GameMaker: Studio™ is the fastest and simplest way to develop multi-platform games for mobile devices, home computers and the Web.

The YoYo CompilerGames written in Studio can now harness the full speed of the CPU with the new native YoYo Compiler (YYC), allowing projects to run up to 100x faster than before, across all native platforms supported by Studio. Unlocking new possibilities in CPU intensive areas such as artificial intelligence, procedural techniques, real time lighting, enhanced physics, real time geometry deformation, collision and data manipulation.

ShadersFully integrated, totally cross platform shader support allows you to write shaders once, and then deploy them on every platform that supports them. This powerful system allows full access to low level shaders, while still letting Studio do the heavy lifting and keeping totally cross platform. The built in editor has been extended to have full colour syntax highlighting and intelli-sense for shaders, making creation a breeze.

Source ControlGameMaker: Studio™ also includes a comprehensive source control scheme so that working on a project within a team is easier than ever before.Currently incorporating Subversion (SVN), and with more solutions on the way, GameMaker: Studio™ is the only development tool your team needs to get things done in record time.

Developer Services To help easily monetize games, we’ve given developers unprecedented access and removed the technical hassle of connecting them with some of the biggest advertisers, analytics and engagement services on mobile and web.

Game Maker will fulfill two different needs very adequately. The hobbyist making a 2D game will appreciate all the tedious framework being done for them with the majority of work being relatively easy programming and asset creation. The clueless but hopeful amateur will appreciate the slow approach to core programming concepts and wondeful supplementary resources like timelines, paths, timers, and the event system in general. If you're looking for a fast and fun jump into 2D amateur game development then look no further.

Keep in mind that any kind of game, regardless of complexity, will require at least some investment and learning. If you're expecting any game development tool to read your mind and pump out your dream game then you should probably take a step back. In the same vein, if you'd like to make something outside the intended scope of Game Maker, be it something with online multiplayer or 3D graphics, then you should look into tools like Unity and Unreal Engine after learning more about programming in general.

With that said, I enjoy working in Game Maker: Studio despite not really having any ambitions beyond simply that. Some people make full commercial games in it, such as the original Spelunky, Nuclear Throne, and others. Either desire is well-appreciated and encouraged here.

Keep in mind that the export modules (sold on Steam as DLC) are not necessary to make and test a game. You simply need them to make a playable standalone on the relevant platform. Some functionality is locked behind DLC, so if you run into a function in the help file you need then consider alternative or simply buy the module. Most modules go on sale at regular intervals, so it's not a wallet-buster over time. I do recommend making something basic and learning the ropes before putting down on modules you may not need.

Extensive functionality. Game Maker Studio is probably the best engine out there for efficiently creating 2D games, alongside Unity. There is not one type of 2D game you can't make with it. For example, both of my Steam games are being developed with this engine: Operation: Covert and Ducktards.

Networking and HTML. Create multiplayer games with ease, utilising buffers and packets!

3D support. Although, you almost certainly aren't going to produce anything good with it, without years of practice.

Shader support! Fully operational OpenGL support for your games!

Multi-platform! For a small fee, you can export your games to pretty much any platform!

Automatic backups and saving. I have never lost one project *touch wood*, due to the constant saving and backups GM:S does behind the scenes!

Exceptionally helpful forums! If you ever get stuck, go there! There always people ready to help you attack your coding errors!

Lenient syntax. Your code can literally be the sloppiest! Game maker don't care!

Extensive manual. 99% of my game maker knowledge has just been from reading the manual. Everything is explained clearly, and sometimes graphically with images!

Frequent updates! Although, this can sometimes be annoying as bugs are constantly springing up. But that's what the bug submission center is from!

Marketplace! Purchase or sell assets from the best creators out there!

The bad

Large projects get cluttered quickly. The folder system can only help you so much! After your game turns into a proper project, file management becomes a problem. Also, the larger the project, the longer the compile.

"Oh you're making a game? That's awesome! What language are you using?""Game maker"*suppressed laughter*

Rumours of decompiling. I know it's completely illegal and frowned upon, but I still fear that there are people out there who have the ability to decompile my games, and distribute source code.

Sandbox limitations. Yes, the sandboxing has good intentions, but it also means that saving systems are incredibly limited.

Not beginner friendly. There is so much stuff that goes on under the hood, that a beginner should know before attempting to make their game. I'm aware it's all in the manual, but it's spread out far and wide (in a sensible order), but not accessible from one place. Even after using this software for god knows how long, I'm still discovering things that make me think "Wow, I could have done with knowing that a month ago, I'd have avoided that whole clause of code". Also it's worth noting that the drag and drop system is stupidly limited, and therefore pointless for beginners to learn, and then have to stop.

Code suggestions box doesn't show variables. If Game Maker displayed variable names, it could probably have prevented a substantial amount of syntax errors ;)

Summary

I am thoroughly happy with my purchase. If you want to make a game with ease, this is absolutely the solution. Once you've used it for a while, you get to understand the workflow and syntax. Although I would strongly recommend you do not watch any youtube tutorials as a beginner. They overcomplicate things massively. Stick to the manual!! (press f1)

Definitely try the free version first, to get a feel. I'd get the one from the yoyo games website though, because the Steam one has limitations!

I taught myself how to program using Game Maker 5 when I was in fourth grade. Now I am a professional programmer and I still use Game Maker to this day.

Game Maker is a development tool that has a wide range of possibilities. You can make just about any game that the SNES could play, and many that PS1-era games could play as well. However, I've found that this kit is good for making educational apps, data sorting software, and plenty of other possibilities open up when you just apply some creativity and hard work.

To anybody just getting into programming: try out Game Maker Studio for free and make 100 bad games on it. It's the quickest way to learn. Once you know plenty of tricks and methods of doing things wrong, start putting a lot of effort into making a good game. Conquer obstacles including (but not limited to): technical difficulties, struggles with programming logic, your own development fatigue. GMS is a safe environment to learn how to deal with all of these issues and becomes a trusted companion throughout your Game Developing Career.

Pretty cool game making tool. If a software can make a difficult process look easy, then it definitely deserves a thumbs up. Not only that, it gives newcomers hope that they can create a game of their dreams. But please don't lose touch with reality too much. Like games that give you the experience in being a knight, a mage or even a dragon, this software just gives you the experience of creating your own game. Don't think that you can go pro with it. It's worth a try and maybe you'll succeed, but before making the step into that direction, know exactly what you're going for.http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=431078845